Fountain pen



June 2, 1959 R. w. RANDOLPH FOUNTAIN PEN Original Filed May 2, 1951ZZezZZdiZmd 122 %J;J-, c

United States Patent 1 FOUNTAIN PEN Robert W. Randolph, Milton, Wis.,assignor to The Parker Pen Company, Janesville, Wis., a corporation ofWisconsin Original application May 2, 1951, Serial No. 224,123. Dividedand this application September 11, 1952, Serial No. 308,976

7 Claims. (Cl. 120-51) This invention relates to a capillary pen andmore particularly to a pen especially well adapted for use w1th a pendesk set base wherein the ink is presented to the pen by a capillaryelement which lifts ink above the level of the body of ink in the wellof the base.

An object of the present invention is to provide a capillary pen whichis extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which effectivelyfills itself by capillary action and which is especially well adaptedfor use with a desk set base of the type having a capillary ink liftingelement.

Another object is to provide a pen for use in connection with a base ofthe character referred to, having such novel construction that it iscapable of storing a large quantity ofink whereby it may be used inWriting for a relatively long period of time without the necessity forrefilling the pen.

Another object is to provide a pen which can be made and assembled veryinexpensively, is rugged and durable and is not likely to becomeinoperative over a long period of use.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the appended drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view partially in vertical crosssection of anovel pen constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged transverse cross-sectional views takenrespectively along lines 2-2, 33 and 4-4 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged exploded plan view of the nib, capillary elementand guard forming portions of the pen of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary view in vertical crosssection of thefront end Of the pen of Fig. 1. v

This application is a division of my co'pending application Serial No.224,123 filed May 2, 1951.

While the pen of the present application is especially well adapted foruse with a desk base of the type shown in my aforesaid copendingapplication the invention is not thus limited and the pen may be usedwith other bases or may be filled by immersion of the Writing end in abody of ink. It might be explained that in the desk base to whichreference is made, there is a capillary ink lifting element formed ofporous resilient material (preferably similar to the material formingthe capillary element of the pen disclosed herein), and which serves tolift ink by capillary action from a body of ink in the base and topresent it for transfer by capillary action to the pen.

The pen 12 is a capillary type pen effective for drawing or lifting inkfrom a capillary ink lifting element of the type such as shown in mycopending application and possesses substantial capacity for enablingthe pen to be used for a long period of time without the necessity forrefilling. The pen 12 includes a barrel 78, which may be of any desiredmaterial such, for example, as

2,888,908 Patented June-2', 1959 plastic, having a rear portion whichmay conveniently be of solid form and is of such size and shape as tofit the hand The barrel is formed with a cavity or bore 84in its forwardend communicating at its rear a reduced bore 86 forming a shoulder 87therewith, the bore 86 having avent 88 communicating with atmosphere forenabling lifting of the ink into the pen by capillary action. The barrel78 at its forwardmost end tapers slightly at 88 to a shape such as tocoact with the socket in the desk base (not shown) so that the pen, whenits forward end is inserted in the socket, is supported at the desiredheight.

The cavity 84 opens out through the forward end of the barrel which isinclined at an angle forming an opening of the bore which lies in aslightly concave, inclined surface, as indicated at 90 (Fig. 6). Thebarrel thus has a forwardly extending tip or projection 92 on the upperside thereof and a longitudinally inwardly disposed terminal portion 94on the under side. The bore 84 is provided with a slightly enlargedcounterbore. 96 adjacent its forward end which terminates forwardlyadjacent the terminal portion 94, and a second counterbore 98 slightlylarger than the counterbore 96 leading from the latter to the forwardend of the barrel. The two counterbores form shoulders 97 and 99respectively.

A capillary filler-and-reservoir element '100 is fitted in the bore84'with its rear end engaging the shoulder 87 which forms a stop forpositioning the filler-and reservoir element. The filler-and-reservoirelement 100 is formed of a porous material the pores ofw hich areinterconnected and provide capillary spaces, and preferably is yieldableand resilient. One material which I have found gives excellent resultsis regenerated cellulose sponge having capillary interstices for liftingthe ink thereinto and storing it therein. In this case-the capillaryfiller-and-reservoir element is also preferably cylindrical in shape soas to completely fill the bore 84 and preferably has substantialfrictional engagement with the wall of the bore for aiding in retainingit in the bore, particularly when filled with ink. Thefiller-and-reservoir element is primarily retained in place by a guardto be referred to later. The forward end of the filler-andreservoirelement is provided with an inclined, slightly convex surface forprojecting a slight distance beyond the open forward end of the cavity84 for a purpose to be explained later.

A pen nib 102 is retained in the bore 84 by means of a guard 104. Thepen nib 102 includes an arcuate body portion 106 which, in the presentinstance, may be of slightly less than'semi-cylindrical extent, with anotch 108 at its rear end. The pen nib also includes a forward portion112 having the usual pierce 114 from whidh leads a slit 116 forming nibsections 118 which terminate forwardly in and together form a writingpoint 120 which is of the desired and customary hard-wear-re-sistantmaterial. The body portion 106 is provided with outwardly extendingprojections or ribs 122 along its lateral marginal edges for engagementwith appropriate conformations of the guard 104.

The guard 104 includes a tubular body portion 124 and a front plate 126,the body portion being split longitudinally on its under side asindicated at 128, whereby it can be slightly expanded for frictiongripping the inner surface of the counterbore 96, as will be explainedlater. The body portion 124 also is provided with inwardly extendingelements forming projections on its inner surface at substantiallydiametrically opposite sides. The front plate 126 is preferably integralwith the body portion 124 and is slightly convex outwardly so as toextend forwardly of the pen slightly beyond the barrel as determined bythe surface 90, and to conform in shape with and have full-surfacecontact with the forward end of the filler-and-re servoir element 100.The front plate 126 is provided with a plurality of transverse 'slits132 forming capillary passages on the order of 0.006 in width, whichenable capillary transfer of ink from the ink lifting element of the penbase or ink well (not shown) 'to the filler and-reservoir element 100when thefront plate is in engagernent with the ink lifting element; Theconvex shapeof the front plate 126 and its position slightly beyondthe'surface 90, enable it to fully contact the ink lifting elementwithout interference by the edges surrounding the opening of the barrel.It will be noted that although the front plate 126 is slightly convexand extends slightly outwardly beyondthe surface 90, it is neverthelessinclined at an angle roughly corresponding with the angle of inclinationof the surface 90. The front plate therefore is positioned so as not tocontact the writing surface when the pen is held at a normal anglethereto in the writing operation' The guard 104 has an opening oraperture 134 at its upper forward point for projection of the writingpoint 120 of the nib therethrough.

In assembling the elements making up the pen, the

pen nib is'inserted' into the guard from a position indicated in ,Fig. 5to a position wherein the writing point 120 extends throughthe aperture134 and the projections 122 on the nib engage the upper edge surfaces ofthe projections 130 in the guard. The upper edge surfaces of theprojections 130 are of such conformation that the projections 122 haverelatively tight frictional engagement therewith to maintain the pen niband guard against undesired relative displacement. Thereafter thefiller-andrese'rvoir element may be inserted into the guard 104 andthewhole assembly inserted into the cavity 84. However, it is alsopossible to first insert the filler-and-reservoir eleinent in the cavityand thereafter fit the guard and nib assemblyinto the cavity insurrounding relation to the filler-and-reservoir element. The pen nib102 firmly engages the surface of the filler-and-reservoir elementwhereby the pierce 114 and the rear portion of the slit 116'are directlyexposed to the surface of the filler-andreservoirelement, and as aconsequence ink progresses by capillary action through the slit 116 tothe writing point 120. 1

The front plate 126 acts as an effective closure for the forwardend ofthe pen andas a cover for the filler-andreservoir element for preventingundesired contact between'the filler and reservoirelement and externalobjects including the fingers of the user. The filler-andreservoirelement is heavily laden with ink when full and contact thereby withother elements is undesirable, but the front plate 126 willsubstantially prevent any undesired transfer of ink from thefiller-and-reservoir element to outside objects. However, the slits 132form such capillary passages as to readilypermit transfer of inktherethrough from the ink lifting element to the fillerand-reservoirelement of the pen.

The body portion 124 of the guard is so shaped relative to thecounterbore 96 as to have a tight frictional engagemerit therewith,whereby the guard and nib are retained against undesired rotationaldisplacement. The shoulder 97 at the rear end of the counterbore 96 alsoforms a stop for locating the guard at theintended innermost position.

The inclination of the front plate 126 is such relative to theinclination of the socket of the base (not shown) that,'when .the pen issupported in the socket, the front plate is disposed in a position atabout 12 with respect tothe horizontal as is also the upper end surfaceof the capillary ink lifting element (not shown) as mentioned above. Forthis reason there is assured greater surface contact between the frontplate and the ink lifting element for establishing maximum transfer ofink into the pen, being in contrast to that condition wherein therespective contacting surfaces are disposed at a substantial anglerelative to the horizontal. The ink, on being lifted A by capillaryaction from the ink well by the ink lifting element, progresses bycapillary action through the capillary passages 132 in the front plate104 and thence into the capillary filler-and-reservoir element where itis stored until the pen is used in writing.

I claim:

1. A pen comprising a barrel having a vented bore in a forward endportion opening through its forward end, the bore having a rear portionof major length substantially uniform in cross section throughout itslength, all portions of the bore being of at least as great transversedimension as any portion rearwardly thereof, a resilient capillaryfiller-and-reservoir element in the bore essentially of uniformtransverse dimension throughout its length and of such transversedimension as to substantially fill the bore and to frictionally engageat least said rear portion of the bore, the' filler-and-reservoirelement constituting essentially the sole means for containing ink inthe pen, an arcuate nib in the bore and frictionally engaging thesurface of the bore and of the filler-and-reservoir element, and havingan ink feed slit in capillary ink feed relation with thefiller-and-reservoir element and having a writing tip extendingforwardly beyond the pen barrel, and a shell-like guard in surroundingrelation to and frictionally gripping and confining the nib and thefiller-andreservoir element at the forward portion and frictionallyengaging the surface of the bore, the nib and guard being substantiallyshorter than the filler-and-reservoir element and the latter havingfriction engagement with the bore rearwardly of the ni'b and guard, thefiller-and-reservoir element substantially filling the guard andterminating adjacent the forward end of the latter, thefiller-and-reservoir element, nib and guard together constituting awriting unit retained in the bore solely by friction and insertable intoand removable from the bore as an assembled unit and only through theforward end of the bore.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the filler-andreservoir elementis made of resilient sponge material whereby the nib can be impressedinto the mass or body thereof in frictionally positioning it betweenthat element and the surface of the bore Without materially affectingthe capillary structure in the body thereof.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the nib is less than a completecircle in arcuate direction and the nib and guard have cooperatingelements frictionally interengaging for positively restraining themembers against relative rotational displacement and frictionallyrestraining them against relative longitudinal displacement.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which the guard has a front coveringplate with capillary-dimension openings therein and thefiller-and-reservoir element engages the plate in feeding relation tothe openings.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which the barrel has a counterbore forreceiving the guard, the guard is split for effecting frictionalretention in the counterbore, and the counterbore forms a shoulderengaged by the guard for limiting rearward movement thereof.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which the barrel has asecondcounterbore the surface of which partially overlies the nib tipand forms therewith a space of capillary dimension operative forretaining a film of ink therein in feeding relation with the nib slit.

7. A pen comprising a barrel having a vented bore in a forward endportion opening through its forward end, the bore having a rearportionof major length substantially uniform in cross section throughout'itslength, all portions of the bore being of at least as great transversedimension as any portion rearwardly thereof, a capillary fillerand-reservoir element in the bore in the form of a resilient mass havingpores normally distributed substantially uniformly throughoutits massand readily conformable to different shapes without affecting itscapillary properties and capable of being compacted without more thanaffecting the degree of its ca'pillarity, the filler-andreservoirelement being essentially of uniform transverse dimension throughout itslength and of such transverse dimension as to substantially fill thebore and to frictionally engage at least said rear portion of the bore,the filler-and-reservoir element constituting essentially the sole meansfor containing ink n the pen, a shell-like guard frictionally fitted inthe bore and having a forwardly and upwardly inclined covering elementterminating adjacent the forward end of the bore, an arcuate nib in thebore with a writing tip projecting forwardly of the bore, said guardsurrounding and confining the forward portion of thefiller-and-reservoir element and retaining it in capillary ink feedingrelation to the nib and the forward end of the filler-and-reservoirelement substantially filling the space surrounded by the guard and nib,the guard and nib being retained in the bore by frictional engagementtherewith, and the guard, nib and filler-and-reservoir element togetherforming a writing unit retained in the bore solely by friction andremovable as a unit solely through the forward end of the bore and whenout of the bore forming a self-sustained unit the parts of which areheld together by friction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS255,205 Stone Mar. 21, 1882 1,336,119 Andersen Apr. 6, 1920 2,187,528Wing Jan. 16, 1940 2.522,553 Wittnebert Sept. 18, 1950 2,581,739 WingJan. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,934 Great Britain of 1899 15,080 GreatBritain of 1906 438,014 Italy July 20, 1948 451,627 Italy Sept. 23, 1949634,735 Great Britain Mar. 29, 1950 642,437 Great Britain Sept. 6, 1950478,963 Canada Nov. 27, 1951

